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Pooled review (meta-analysis)

Pooled review of 16 studies: sauna lowered blood pressure, right away and over weeks

Li and colleagues · European journal of cardiovascular nursing · 2020

Original title: Acute and short-term efficacy of sauna treatment on cardiovascular function: A meta-analysis.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Points to benefit

Right after a sauna, systolic blood pressure fell 5.55 mmHg and diastolic 6.50 mmHg. After 2 to 4 weeks, systolic fell 5.26 mmHg and diastolic 4.14 mmHg. Pumping strength (LVEF) rose 3.27%.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Pooled review (meta-analysis)
Who or what was studied
16 studies · people in sauna studies, including people with weak heart function
What was tested
Sauna right after a session (0-30 min) and sauna treatment for 2 to 4 weeks, vs before or no sauna
What it measured
Several kinds of outcomes
How long
4 weeks
Who has a stake
No disclosure in PubMed
No disclosure in PubMed.
Journal
European journal of cardiovascular nursing, 2020
Source
PubMed record 32814462. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Pools the results of 16 studies.
  • •A pooled review is only as strong as the studies it pools.
  • •Measured several kinds of outcomes.
  • •The PubMed record has no conflict-of-interest statement.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

This paper is not on the ladder. It is a pooled review (meta-analysis), and reviews and opinion pieces discuss studies that are already counted on the steps below.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: heart disease, blood pressure and death

    3

    3 benefit

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    2

    1 benefit, 1 no difference

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    5

    2 benefit, 1 mixed, 2 no difference

  4. Population studies

    4

    4 benefit

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does sauna use lower heart disease risk?”

Possibly, but not proven in trials.

Confidence: low. Based on 21 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer
  • Part of the finding “Blood pressure: reviews and trials disagree”.
  • Summed up in “What reviews found”: Summarized sixteen sauna articles. Right after a sauna, systolic pressure fell 5.55 mmHg; after 2 to 4 weeks it was 5.26 mmHg lower and heart pumping (LVEF) rose 3.27%. Authors concluded sauna helps heart function, most in weak hearts.

Other reviews on this question

See all 21 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The reviewer corrected 2 fields after reading the abstract. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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